flaringhttp://www.desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/8666/0
enShale Oil Drillers Deliberately Wasted Nearly $1 Billion in Gas, Harming Climatehttp://www.desmogblog.com/2014/09/04/two-new-reports-show-shale-oil-drillers-deliberately-wasted-nearly-1-billion-gas-harming-climate
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/shutterstock_182434433.jpg?itok=MDs9Bx7P" width="200" height="150" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In Texas and North Dakota, where an oil rush triggered by the development of new fracking methods has taken many towns by storm, drillers have run into a major problem.</p>
<p>While their shale wells extract valuable oil, natural gas also rises from the wells alongside that oil. That gas could be sold for use for electrical power plants or to heat homes, but it is harder to transport from the well to customers than oil. Oil can be shipped via truck, rail or pipe, but the only practical way to ship gas is by pipeline, and new pipelines are expensive, often costing more to construct than the gas itself can be sold for.</p>
<p>So, instead of losing money on pipeline construction, many shale oil drillers have decided to simply burn the gas from their wells off, a process known in the industry as “flaring.”</p>
<p>It's a process so wasteful that it's sparked <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-are-sued-over-natural-gas-flaring-in-north-dakota.html?_r=0">class action lawsuits</a> from landowners, who say they've lost millions of dollars worth of gas due to flaring. Some of the air emissions from flared wells can also be toxic or carcinogenic. It's also destructive for the climate – natural gas is made primarily of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and when methane burns, it produces more than half as much <span class="caps">CO</span>2 as burning coal.</p>
<p>Much of the research into the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/05/27/all-above-or-action-now-obama-s-natural-gas-dilemma">climate change impact</a> the nation's fracking rush – now over a decade long – has focused on methane leaks from shale gas wells, where drillers are deliberately aiming to produce natural gas. The climate change impacts of shale oil drilling have drawn less attention from researchers and regulators alike.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><a href="http://www.earthworksaction.org/media/detail/up_in_flames_pr">A new report</a> from Earthworks finds that drillers in North Dakota alone have burned off over $854 million worth of gas at shale oil wells since 2010, generating 1.4 billion pounds of <span class="caps">CO</span>2 in 2013 alone. The 1.4 billion pounds of <span class="caps">CO</span>2 produced by flaring equal the emissions from 1.1 million cars or light trucks – roughly an extra 10 cars' worth of emissions per year for every man, woman and child living in the state's largest city, Fargo (population 113,000).</p>
<p>Flaring at shale oil wells is now so common that<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/01/16/169511949/a-mysterious-patch-of-light-shows-up-in-the-north-dakota-dark"> satellite images</a> of the largely rural state at night are <a href="http://www.earthworksaction.org/library/detail/up_in_flames">dotted with</a> what appear at first to be major metropolises but are instead the flares burning round-the-clock in the Bakken shale drilling patch.</p>
<p>But while the highly visible flaring in North Dakota has drawn the most media attention, the practice is on the rise in Texas, particularly in the state's Eagle Ford shale.</p>
<p>“The Eagle Ford produces considerably more natural gas than the Bakken,” Earthworks noted. “In June 2014, the Eagle Ford Shale produced seven billion cubic feet per day, while the Bakken produced 1.3 billion cubic feet per day.”</p>
<p>In 2013, nearly a third of the gas in North Dakota's Bakken was flared – but the numbers coming from Texas seem a bit more murky, in part because unlike North Dakota, Texas does not tax flared gas and – according to <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/business/eagleford/item/Up-in-Flames-Day-1-Flares-in-Eagle-Ford-Shale-32626.php">a new four-part investigative report</a> by the region's newspaper – the state has failed to track or control flaring adequately.</p>
<p>The year-long <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/business/eagleford/item/Up-in-Flames-Day-1-Flares-in-Eagle-Ford-Shale-32626.php">investigation</a> by the San Antionio Express-News recently uncovered striking problems with the regulation of flaring in Texas, including:</p>
<ul><li>
Texas law forbids drillers to flare past 10 days without a permit – but out of the twenty wells that had flared the most gas in the state, the paper discovered that 7 had never obtained required permits. State law calls for fines of up to $10,000 a day for flaring violations, but regulators have issued a total of less than $132,000 in fines in the Eagle Ford since the boom began, despite over 150 “possible flaring or venting violations” found by state inspectors in the region between 2010 and 2012.</li>
<li>
Statewide, 33 billion cubic feet of natural gas were flared or vented in 2012 – a 400 percent rise from 2009, when the shale oil rush arrived. The Eagle Ford was responsible for two thirds of the state's wasted gas in 2012, totaling 21 billion feet for the year. Eagle Ford drillers burned off gas at ten times the combined rate of drillers in the state's other oil fields.</li>
<li>
That much gas produces enormous amounts of airborne pollution. “In the early days of the boom, flaring released 427 tons of air pollution each year. By 2012, pollution levels shot up to 15,453 tons, a 3,500 percent increase that exceeds the total emissions of all six oil refineries in Corpus Christi,” the paper wrote. “Moreover, flaring and other oil industry activity in the Eagle Ford released more ozone-creating pollution in the summer of 2012 than two dozen Texas oil refineries.”</li>
<li>
Despite concerns over how these emissions can affect human health, the state operates just seven air monitoring stations in the region. It can take regulators up to 10 days to arrive to take samples when citizens complain about potentially hazardous fumes.</li>
<li>
Texas's environmental agency, the Railroad Commission, is run by a 3-member panel of elected officials. “The three Railroad Commissioners have raised $11 million from campaign donors since 2010,” the paper found. “At least half that money came from employees, lobbyists and lawyers connected to the oil and gas industry, according to campaign finance records.”</li>
</ul>
<p>Flaring has angered environmentalists, landowners and even many in the oil and gas industry itself.</p>
<p><span class="dquo">“</span>The Railroad Commission is statutorily required ‘to prevent waste of Texas’s natural resources’,” <a href="http://www.earthworksaction.org/media/detail/up_in_flames_pr">said</a> Earthworks Texas organizer Sharon Wilson. “I don’t see how the Railroad Commission isn’t breaking the law by allowing drillers to waste natural gas by flaring it off rather than capturing it.”</p>
<p>“Nobody hates flaring more than the oil operator and the royalty owners,” Ron Ness of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, an industry trade group, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/us-bakken-flaring-idUSBRE96S05320130729">told Reuters</a> last year. “We all understand that the flaring is an economic waste.”</p>
<p>But the problem is projected to get worse not better. An environmental report from the Alamo Area Council of Governments predicted that by 2018, emissions of volatile organic compounds – which the <span class="caps">EPA</span> <a href="http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html">warns</a> can have “short- and long-term adverse health effects” – could quadruple in the Eagle Ford.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the <span class="caps">EPA</span> has decided to consider air emissions from each shale well, pipeline compressor or other piece of equipment individually when deciding whether there's enough pollution for federal regulators to get involved – meaning that even though the Eagle Ford's wells collectively pollute more than multiple oil refineries, the flaring escapes federal oversight.</p>
<p>New federal regulations, aimed at cutting down on the release of climate-changing carbon dioxide and methane from the wells and scheduled to go into effect in 2015, will require many drillers to use a process called a “green completion,” rather than flaring the gas or venting it to the atmosphere as raw unburned methane. Green completions can help reduce leaks by up to 99 percent, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/10/14/flaws-university-texas-methane-study-draw-criticism-scientists">according to a study</a> by the Environmental Defense Fund that has was heavily touted by the drilling industry and its advocates.</p>
<p>But those requirements only apply to wells whose purpose is to produce natural gas, not oil. This means the regulations will have little impact on shale wells in Texas's Eagle Ford, the Express-News pointed out.</p>
<p>More than 1 million Texans live near the Eagle Ford, some of whom say they have suffered a litany of health effects that they suspect are tied to flaring.</p>
<p><span class="dquo">“</span>We went from nice, easy country living to living in a Petri dish,” Mike Cerny, who lives within a mile of 17 oil wells, <a href="http://eagleford.publicintegrity.org/">told</a> the Center for Public Integrity. “This crap is killing me and my family.”</p>
<p>There's a simple way to spot a poorly-performing flare. “If you see a smoking flare that's not complete combustion,” Neil Carman, a former state scientist who now works with the Sierra Club, told the Express-News. “If it's not completed, you get a smorgasbord of chemicals.”</p>
<p>At times, the gas is simply released unburned directly to the atmosphere – a practice labeled “venting” by the industry.</p>
<p>Texas state regulators fail to distinguish between flaring and venting in their public production database, the newspaper pointed out, making it impossible to know precisely how bad the impacts of the pollution might be.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:9px;">Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-182434433/stock-photo-flaring-natural-gas-in-north-dakota.html">Flaring Natural Gas in North Dakota</a>, via Shutterstock</span></p>
</div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
<div class="icopyright-article-tools-horizontal icopyright-article-tools-left">
<script type="text/javascript">
var icx_publication_id = 14813;
var icx_content_id = '8463';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/rights/js/horz-toolbar.js"></script>
<noscript>
<a class="icopyright-article-tools-noscript"
href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.14813?icx_id=8463"
target="_blank"
title="Main menu of all reuse options">
<img height="25" width="27" border="0" align="bottom"
alt="[Reuse options]"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.png"/>
Click here for reuse options!
</a>
</noscript>
</div>
<!-- iCopyright Tag -->
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7277">shale oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8666">flaring</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1088">North Dakota</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8728">Eagle Ford</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8653">Bakken</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5565">shale gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6280">Waste</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9546">taxes</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10333">Earthworks</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6152">Sharon Wilson</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1908">carbon dioxide</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1907">methane</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/939">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/913">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1221">CO2</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/11915">greenhouse gasses</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7306">Smog</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14842">volatile organic compounds</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6159">benzene</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10600">toluene</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10601">xylene</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10599">ethylbenzene</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17864">fracking rush</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16560">shale rush</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/epa">EPA</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6157">Texas Railroad Commission</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17865">SkyTruth</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17866">San Antonio Express-News</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17867">investigative report</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17868">permit</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17869">fines</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/11787">violations</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17870">burned off</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17871">fumes</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17872">airborne pollution</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6039">air pollution</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1226">clean air act</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14720">tons</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5524">oil refineries</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5046">campaign finance</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5391">campaign contributions</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17874">green completion</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4433">Center for Public Integrity</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17875">Neil Carman</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/666">Sierra Club</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17876">venting</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/11981">database</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17877">spreadsheet</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/11807">documents</a></div></div></div>Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:00:00 +0000Sharon Kelly8463 at http://www.desmogblog.comHappy Holidays From Cancer Alley: Christmas Lights Overshadowed By Shell's Flaringhttp://www.desmogblog.com/2013/12/24/happy-holidays-from-cancer-alley
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/J46A7434_2.jpg?itok=cm73TLaV" width="200" height="133" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The streets of Norco, Louisiana are filled with Christmas lights like lots of <span class="caps">U.S.</span> towns this season. But on December 19th, the sky above Norco was illuminated by massive flaring at <a href="http://www.shell.us/aboutshell/projects-locations/norco.html">Shell Chemical's refinery</a> in town. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that he could see t<span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">he flares from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-10_Twin_Span_Bridge">Twin Span Bridge</a>, over 50 miles from Norco, so I went to check it out.<br /><br />
Watch what I documented when I visited Norco on December 19th:</span></p>
<p><object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v2-jQF3QNNI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v2-jQF3QNNI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560"></embed></object></p>
<p>When asked about what caused the flares, Shell's <span class="caps">U.S.</span> media spokesperson, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kimberly-windon/53/71/182">Kimberly Windon</a>, replied by email, </p>
<p>“On Thursday, December 19, 2013, the Norco Manufacturing Complex (Chemical) experienced an operational upset on one of its units, which has resulted in flaring and smoke. There were no injuries associated with this situation. All appropriate agencies were notified and we continue to keep the local community informed. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, we do not provide details about the operational status of individual units or information on supply.” </p>
<p><a href="http://leanweb.org/our-work/air/accidental-spills-and-releases-part-of-doing-business">Flares are nothing new</a> to the residents of Norco, especially in the <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/diamond">Diamond</a> community, where toxic air pollution has long threatened an African American neighborhood sandwiched between a chemical plant and an oil refinery.</p>
<!--break-->
<p>More than a decade ago, <a href="http://www.labucketbrigade.org/section.php?id=23">air samples collected by Concerned Citizens of Norco and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade</a> revealed cancer-causing chemicals in the air at levels violating Louisiana state standards. Lengthy legal negotiations with Shell over the toxic conditions in Diamond resulted in a victory in 2002 for residents who wished to leave.<br /><br />
But while Shell agreed to purchase many of the homes in Diamond, the victory was bittersweet, coming at the cost of disbanding the historic Diamond community where the largest slave revolt in American history took place in 1811. Now the area has only a few homes left. </p>
<h3>
Happy Holidays from Cancer Alley</h3>
<p>According to Baton Rouge's<a href="http://theadvocate.com/news/7346257-123/rolling-on-the-river"> The Advocate, </a>“Louisiana is enjoying its biggest industrial boom since the oil bust in the 1980s, and much of the action — tens of billions of dollars of investment — is happening along <a href="http://theadvocate.com/csp/mediapool/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?STREAMOID=GCbS6wAl5TWTktZs8gWCOJM5tm0Zxrvol3sywaAHBAnQ52lQWc7MNmR8iJnFnt0mE0$uXvBjavsllACLNr6VhLEUIm2tympBeeq1Fwi7sIigrCfKm_F3DhYfWov3omce$8CAqP1xDAFoSAgEcS6kSQ--&amp;CONTENTTYPE=application/pdf&amp;CONTENTDISPOSITION=110313%20River%20industries.pdf">the 70-mile corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge</a>.”<br /><br />
While industry refers to this area as the 'industrial corridor,' locals and environmentalists know it as '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_Alley">Cancer Alley</a>.'</p>
<p>Anne Rolfes, founder of the nonprofit environmental advocacy group <a href="http://www.labucketbrigade.org/section.php?id=136">Louisiana Bucket Brigade,</a> told The Advocate she believes Louisiana officials should focus their attention on cleaner development.<br /><br />
“If we keep bringing this dirty business here, we’re going to run out tourists completely,” she explained. “We’re just filling up more and more with pollution. This stuff is going into our waterways, and we’re getting so polluted that we’re not going to be able to alligator-hunt and fish.”</p>
<p>Louisiana has lots of work ahead when it comes to environmental protection. <br /><br />
The residents of<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/08/22/growing-louisiana-sinkhole-swallowing-trees-industry-activity"> Bayou Corne</a>, where a massive sinkhole opened up, can attest to that. Texas Brine is accused of causing that industrial disaster after drilling too close to the edge of a salt dome. As local residents press for accountability, the sinkhole continues to grow. <br /><br />
The <span class="caps">BP</span> disaster is <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/12/19/bp-attempts-misdirect-public-claims-fraud">still taking a toll</a> on residents along the Gulf Coast. And <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/coast_guard_plan_to_ship_frack.html#incart_m-rpt-2">now the Coast Guard</a> is considering allowing barges to transport fracking wastewater down the Mississippi River, destined for disposal in Louisiana. </p>
<p>However, the year is closing with two new positive developments on the environmental protection front <span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">underway</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> i</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">n Louisiana. </span></p>
<p>1. A <a href="http://thelensnola.org/2013/07/26/explainer-what-are-the-legal-political-issues-in-lawsuit-against-oil-gas-companies-for-coastal-loss/">lawsuit against oil and gas companies</a> filed by the <a href="http://slfpae.com/">Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East,</a> alleging energy companies hastened coastal erosion, weakened the state's flood-protection defenses and must repair the damage or help pay for flood protection. That case has been followed by similar suits filed by both<a href="http://theadvocate.com/news/7566666-123/jefferson-and-plaquemines-file-coastal"> Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish</a>. </p>
<p>2. A “Green Army” established by former Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, joined by individuals and environmental groups, to safeguard Louisiana against policies that allow for unregulated industry. They are taking on issues pertaining to the Bayou Corne sinkhole, <a href="http://theadvocate.com/home/6496152-125/new-tool-arrives-to-fight">saltwater intrusion</a> into the Baton Rouge aquifer, coastal erosion, and additional drilling to create storage for natural gas storage in caverns under <a href="http://theadvocate.com/home/5992123-125/lake-peigneur-controversy-seeks-resolution">Lake Peigneur</a>.</p>
<p>If only Louisiana's leaders would follow the example of concerned citizens who are working to hold industry accountable for reckless practices, the state might stand a chance at saving Louisiana's vanishing coast from climate change.</p>
</div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
<div class="icopyright-article-tools-horizontal icopyright-article-tools-left">
<script type="text/javascript">
var icx_publication_id = 14813;
var icx_content_id = '7710';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/rights/js/horz-toolbar.js"></script>
<noscript>
<a class="icopyright-article-tools-noscript"
href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.14813?icx_id=7710"
target="_blank"
title="Main menu of all reuse options">
<img height="25" width="27" border="0" align="bottom"
alt="[Reuse options]"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.png"/>
Click here for reuse options!
</a>
</noscript>
</div>
<!-- iCopyright Tag -->
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14799">norco</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1268">shell</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6181">Louisiana</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5524">oil refineries</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8666">flaring</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14800">flares</a></div></div></div>Tue, 24 Dec 2013 13:00:00 +0000Julie Dermansky7710 at http://www.desmogblog.comInvestors: No More Flaring of Fracked Oil and Gas in Bakken Shalehttp://www.desmogblog.com/investors-no-more-flaring-fracked-oil-and-gas-bakken-shale
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/exxon-gas-flaring-photo01.jpg?itok=JPEponYF" width="200" height="150" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The debate over <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare">flaring</a> <a href="http://www.ogfj.com/unconventional.html">unconventional oil and gas</a> in shale basins across the United States has suddenly heated up immensely (excuse the bad pun). </p>
<p>On March 27, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(organization)">Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economy (<span class="caps">CERES</span>)</a> penned a letter calling for an end to the practice, <a href="http://www.ceres.org/files/oil-gas/investor-flaring-letter">writing</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are a group of 37 investors, representing $500 billion in total assets, who areconcerned about the financial risks associated with the flaring of natural gas that has accompanied fast-proliferating oil production from shale formations in North Dakota, Texas and elsewhere in the <span class="caps">U.S.</span></p>
<p>We are concerned that excessive flaring, because of its impact on air quality and climate change, poses significant risks for the companies involved, and for the industry at large,ultimately threatening the industry’s license to operate.</p>
<p>As you know, shale oil production, made possible by hydraulic fracturing technology,…is poised to become the world’s largest oil producer in the next five years, with nearly all of this projected growth coming from shale oil. …</p>
<div>
On a lifecycle basis, emissions from oil produced with high flaring rates may be comparable to those from Canada’s vast oil sands region.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ceres.org/files/oil-gas/investor-flaring-letter">letter</a> ended by calling for the building up of proper infrastructure, such as pipelines and refineries, in order to push for an eliminiation of the dirty practice. <span class="caps">CERES</span> concluded the letter with a firm request, stating, “We therefore are writing to request information about the amount your company is currently flaring, as well as details about your plans to reduce flaring at existing wells and prevent it at future wells.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ceres.org/files/oil-gas/investor-flaring-letter">Letter signarories</a> included <a href="http://www.asyousow.org/">As You Sow</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Church_(U.S.A.)">Presbyterian Church (<span class="caps">USA</span>)</a>, <a href="http://www.turnerinvestments.com/">Turner Investments</a>, and <a href="http://www.everence.com/c.aspx?id=307&amp;token=1">Praxis Mutual Funds</a>, to name several.</p>
<!--break-->
<h3>
<span class="caps">U.S.</span> Flaring in Context</h3>
<p>DeSmogBlog, in the heat of the ongoing debate over <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5139">TransCanada's proposed Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span></a> <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a> pipeline, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/demise-keystone-xl-means-more-bakken-shale-gas-flaring">noted in late January </a>that the derailing of the northern portion of the pipeline could mean more gas flaring in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_formation">Bakken Shale</a> basin, located in North Dakota, due to lack of pipeline infrastructure needed to bring the gas to market.</p>
<p>The original Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> game plan included a key slice of the pie located in the northern U.S., known by the oil and gas industry as the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/bakken.html">TransCanada Bakken Marketlink</a> project. This project would move the oil and gas obtained via the hydraulic fracturing (“<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-the-future/">fracking</a>”) process in the Bakken, as well as tar sands crude from Alberta, southward toward Cushing, <span class="caps">OK</span>, eventually making its way to Port Arthur, <span class="caps">TX</span>.</p>
<p>The southern half of that pie is known as the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/cushing.html">Cushing Marketlink project</a>, located in Cushing, <span class="caps">OK</span>, a city President Obama <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/obama-sojourns-pipeline-crossroads-world-campaign-speech">recently sojourned to on the campaign trail</a>.</p>
<p>President Obama has delayed a decision on the fate of the northern half of the pipeline until after the November 2012 elections. And that means the oil and gas obtained via fracking in the Bakken Shale will continue to be flared at surreal rates.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/obama-sojourns-pipeline-crossroads-world-campaign-speech">we explained </a>in January, “…if the Marketlink Project goes down in flames…that means, ironically, more flames in the form of gas flaring.”</p>
<p>In an overlooked <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/in-north-dakota-wasted-natural-gas-flickers-against-the-sky.html?pagewanted=all">September 2011 investigation</a>, <em>The New York Times</em> revealed that (emphasis mine) <strong>the oil and gas industry flares roughly 30-percent of the gas fracked from the Bakken Shale</strong>. </p>
<p>The Times' Clifford Krauss wrote,</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Every day, more than 100 million cubic feet of natural gas is flared this way </strong>— enough energy to heat half a million homes for a day.</p>
<p>The<strong> flared gas also spews at least two million tons of carbon dioxide </strong>into the atmosphere every year, as much as 384,000 cars or a medium-size coal-fired power plant would emit, alarming some environmentalists.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why flare? The industry answer is quite blunt. </p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1; "><span class="dquo">“</span>I’ll tell you why people flare: It’s cheap,” </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/in-north-dakota-wasted-natural-gas-flickers-against-the-sky.html?pagewanted=all" style="line-height: 1; ">said Troy Anderson</a> to <em>The Times</em><span style="line-height: 1; ">, lead operator of a North Dakota gas-processing plant owned by Whiting Petroleum in </span><em style="line-height: 1; ">The Times</em><span style="line-height: 1; "> article. </span></p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1; "><span class="dquo">“</span>Pipelines are expensive: You have to maintain them. You need permits to build them. They are a pain.”</strong></p>
<h3>
More Context: Devastation of Flaring in Nigeria</h3>
<p>We've seen this play out before and history shows that flaring can cause devastation on a massive scale.</p>
<p>Look to the Niger Delta for Exhibit A. <a href="http://www.foe.co.uk/"><em>Friends of the Earth <span class="caps">UK</span></em></a>, in an October 2004 press release, <a href="http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/gasflaringinnigeria.pdf">laid it out</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The flares also contain widely-recognised toxins, such as benzene, which pollute the air. Local people complain of respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis. According to the <span class="caps">US</span> government, the flares contribute to acid rain and villagers complain of the rain corroding their buildings. The particles from the flares fill the air, covering everything with a fine layer of soot.</p>
<p>Local people also complain about the roaring noise and the intense heat from the flares. They live and work alongside the flares with no protection</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>The Independent </em>of London, in June 2010, noted that Nigeria's gas flares were <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/visible-from-space-deadly-on-earth-the-gas-flares-of-nigeria-1955108.html">visible from outer space</a>. In that article, <a href="http://people.forbes.com/profile/christopher-e-cragg/59668">Christopher Cragg</a>, now Senior Vice President of Operations of Oil States International, Inc. and Director of Powell Industries, Inc., stated the following of flaring: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is one of the largest single pointless emissions of greenhouse gas on the planet, with obvious implications for climate change that will not only affect Nigeria, but also the rest of the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An important documentary on flaring in the Niger Delta, titled, “Poison Fire,” can be seen below.</p>
</div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
<div class="icopyright-article-tools-horizontal icopyright-article-tools-left">
<script type="text/javascript">
var icx_publication_id = 14813;
var icx_content_id = '6180';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/rights/js/horz-toolbar.js"></script>
<noscript>
<a class="icopyright-article-tools-noscript"
href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.14813?icx_id=6180"
target="_blank"
title="Main menu of all reuse options">
<img height="25" width="27" border="0" align="bottom"
alt="[Reuse options]"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.png"/>
Click here for reuse options!
</a>
</noscript>
</div>
<!-- iCopyright Tag -->
<div class="field field-name-field-video-blog field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="media-youtube-video media-youtube-1">
<iframe class="media-youtube-player" width="640" height="390" title="bq2TBOHWFRc" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bq2TBOHWFRc?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of bq2TBOHWFRc</iframe>
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-text-after-video field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><h3>
North Dakota the New Nigeria? </h3>
<p>Nigeria has been <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzj3rEUEXoo">ravaged</a> at the hands of gas flaring. Will North Dakota's Bakken and other shale basins go the way of the Niger Delta?</p>
<p>The evidence is a bit ominous.</p>
<p>For example, gas flared in the Bakken, like in Nigeria, <a href="http://blog.skytruth.org/2012/03/bakken-shale-oil-drilling-and-flaring.html">can be seen from outer space</a>, a stark portrayal of the vast amount of gas being flared off in North Dakota on a daily basis.</p>
<p>So, kudos to <span class="caps">CERES</span> for taking on this fight. If you're going to drill it, use it. If not, leave it in the ground.</p>
<p>Life for humanity on earth as we know it, after all, depends on it.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/690">new york times</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1088">North Dakota</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1262">as you sow</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1461">asthma</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1520">Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2540">desmogblog</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2580">alberta oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4321">soot</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4565">acid rain</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4754">President Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5133">fracking</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5137">hydraulic fracturing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5565">shale gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5856">TransCanada Corporation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6159">benzene</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6351">shale</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7034">nigeria</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7277">shale oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8199">Cushing MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8200">Bakken MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8203">Friends of the Earth UK</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8206">Gas Flaring</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8207">Whiting Petroleum</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8653">Bakken</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8666">flaring</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8756">Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8757">Presbyterian Church (USA)</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8758">CERES</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8759">Troy Anderson</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8760">Oil States International</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8761">Powell Industries</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8762">Christopher Cragg</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8763">Chris Cragg</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8764">Niger Delta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8765">President Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8766">bronchitis</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8767">Poison Fire</a></div></div></div>Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:22:42 +0000Steve Horn6180 at http://www.desmogblog.comObama Sojourns to "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" for Campaign Speech http://www.desmogblog.com/obama-sojourns-pipeline-crossroads-world-campaign-speech
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Cushing%20.jpg?itok=KYDGCyEG" width="200" height="113" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It's the multi-pronged fight that never seems to end.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/tarsands">Alberta Tar Sands</a> have been near the forefront of the North American energy and climate debate, thanks in large part to growing public concern and grassroots efforts like <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/">Tar Sands Action</a>, a campaign led by climate activists to block construction of the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> pipeline.</p>
<p>The temporary derailing of Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> by President Obama - who in January <a href="http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2012/01/18/breaking-keystone-xl-denied/" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">delayed permission</a> to construct the pipeline for the foreseeable future - was labeled a “<a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/keystone-xl-victory-stop-tar-sands/">victory</a>” by many activists. </p>
<p>But complicating the “victory” narrative, Obama later <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/27/433093/transcanada-to-build-southern-portion-of-keystone-xl-pipeline/">granted permission</a> to TransCanada Corporation to build the southern segment of the pipeline, the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/5641.html">Cushing Extension</a>, sometimes also referred to as the <a href="http://www.transcanada.com/cushing.html">Cushing Marketlink Project</a>, which will run from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushing,_Oklahoma">Cushing, Oklahoma</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur,_Texas">Port Arthur, Texas</a>. </p>
<p>Pandering to Big Oil, Obama will visit Cushing on Thursday, the self-proclaimed “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cushing_pipeline_crossroads_sign.jpg" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">Pipeline Crossroads of the World</a>,” to give a stump speech for his 2012 election campaign.</p>
<p>The <em>Stillwater News Press</em> <a href="http://www.stwnewspress.com/local/x1284940645/Cushing-abuzz-about-Obama-visit" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">explained</a> the rationale for the visit this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; ">The White House has announced the president will be in Cushing Thursday to discuss his '<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/27/431988/all-of-the-above-obama-names-his-failed-presidency/" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">all-of-the-above</a>' energy policy…Thursday appears to some locals as an opportune time for Obama, who said he supports the southern leg, to get on board on the northern segment of the 36-inch pipeline from Canada.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; "><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/19/obama-keystone-oklahoma.html" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; "><em><span class="caps">CBC</span> News</em> reports</a> that “Obama will make a speech at a storage yard that's holding pipes to be used to build the pipeline.” </p>
<p>As the old adage goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” </p>
<!--break--></div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
<div class="icopyright-article-tools-horizontal icopyright-article-tools-left">
<script type="text/javascript">
var icx_publication_id = 14813;
var icx_content_id = '6142';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/rights/js/horz-toolbar.js"></script>
<noscript>
<a class="icopyright-article-tools-noscript"
href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.14813?icx_id=6142"
target="_blank"
title="Main menu of all reuse options">
<img height="25" width="27" border="0" align="bottom"
alt="[Reuse options]"
src="http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.png"/>
Click here for reuse options!
</a>
</noscript>
</div>
<!-- iCopyright Tag -->
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/917">texas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1267">big oil</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2580">alberta oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5133">fracking</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5137">hydraulic fracturing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5139">keystone xl pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5565">shale gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5856">TransCanada Corporation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5863">oklahoma</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6344">unconventional gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6562">keystone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7174">Bakken Shale</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7554">Port Arthur</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7830">CBC News</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8199">Cushing MarketLink</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8201">Cushing</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8202">Cushing Extension</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8206">Gas Flaring</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8243">Burlington Northern Santa Fe</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8244">BNSF</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8654">Keystone Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8665">Stillwater News Press</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8666">flaring</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8667">natural gas flaring</a></div></div></div>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:03:25 +0000Steve Horn6142 at http://www.desmogblog.com